Friday Roundup: UNC, FSU Take First Losses

Two more unbeaten teams went down Friday, leaving 3-0 Dartmouth (which was idle Friday) as the only undefeated team left in Division I. No. 1 North Carolina was knocked off by Miami, 4-1 in Chapel Hill—the Hurricanes' 11th victory in their last 12 games against UNC. Lefthander Chris Diaz (7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER) stifled the UNC offense, and the Hurricanes broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the fifth against Kent Emanuel (6.1 IP, 8 H, 4 ER). The Tar Heels drop to 16-1 on the season.

And in College Park, Maryland handed No. 12 Florida State its first defeat in its second road game of the year, 5-3. Jimmy Reed (8 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER) and Kevin Mooney combined on a five-hitter, and Kyle Convissar had three RBIs to lead the Maryland offense against Brandon Leibrandt (5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER).

There were a few other upsets Friday, along with some compelling action on opening day in the Southeastern Conference. On to the roundup:

Top 25 Showdowns

• (3) Oregon State at (20) Arizona: The Beavers won their Pac-12 opener in Tucson, 6-2. Michael Conforto (3-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI) hit his fifth homer of the year in support of Matt Boyd (7 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), who improved to 4-0 for Oregon State. Konner Wade (5.2 IP, 12 H, 6 ER) was whacked around for Arizona, which was held to just four hits in the game.

• (6) Mississippi at (15) Arkansas: Preston Overbey's second-inning grand slam spotted Bobby Wahl (7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K) to a lead he would not relinquish, as the Rebels won the opener in Fayetteville, 7-1. Ole Miss chased Trey Killian (3 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 0 K) with three more runs in the fourth. At 19-1, the Rebels are off to the best 20-game start in program history.

• (10) Kentucky at Florida: The Gators shuffled their rotation, moving preseason All-American Jonathon Crawford out of the Friday starter role and moving freshman righty Jay Carmichael from the bullpen into the No. 1 starter job. Carmichael (5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER) turned in a strong outing in his first career start, and the Gators broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the seventh en route to a 4-1 win—Florida's first Friday win of the season. UK third baseman Paul McConkey made three errors in the seventh behind A.J. Reed (6.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K), leading to three unearned runs. Carmichael is 2-1, 1.90 in 24 innings this season. Crawford is slated to pitch Saturday.

• New Mexico at (21) UNLV: Josh Melendez's RBI double in the 10th lifted the Lobos to a 3-2 win in Las Vegas. New Mexico got a much-needed quality start out of A.J. Carman (6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER), followed by four innings of one-hit, shutout relief from four different relievers. Erick Fedde (8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 K) was strong in a no-decision for UNLV.

Other Top 25 Results

• (2) Vanderbilt at Auburn: Conrad Gregor hit his first-home run of the year, and Connor Harrell added a three-run shot in support of Kevin Ziomek (8.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), leading Vanderbilt to a 5-2 win. Daniel Koger, Jay Wade and Will Kendall combined to retire the final 20 Vanderbilt hitters in order after Harrell's third-inning homer, but the damage was done.

• Xavier at (4) Louisville: Kyle Gibson had three hits to lead the Louisville offense in support of Chad Green (7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K), who improved to 3-1, 1.16 with a 20-4 K-BB mark in 31 innings.

• (5) South Carolina at Missouri: Evan Beal (6.1 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K) continued to thrive in the Friday starter role since taking over for injured Jordan Montgomery. Beal set a new career high for strikeouts for the second week in a row, leading the Gamecocks to a 4-1 win. Grayson Greiner (2-for-3) had his first home run of the year for South Carolina.

• Washington at (11) UCLA: Play was suspended by fog with Washington leading 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth.

• (16) Oregon at Southern California: Jake Reed (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER) led the Ducks to a 5-2 win in their Pac-12 opener. J.J. Altobelli's RBI single capped Oregon's two-run sixth, as the Ducks took the lead for good.

• (22) Virginia at Clemson: The Cavs came back from a 5-1 deficit, scoring three times in the ninth to force extra innings and winning 6-5 on Mike Papi's 11th-inning solo homer. Virginia has won nine straight against Clemson, and 16 of its last 18 since 2006. Kyle Crockett (2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K) earned the win with strong relief work. Papi entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the ninth, when he delivered a game-tying RBI single.

• Northwestern State at (23) Oklahoma: Jonathan Gray (9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 12 K) moved into the Friday starter role and utterly dominated in Oklahoma's 1-0 win. Matt Oberste's solo homer in the fourth provided all the scoring, as Gray threw his first career shutout and set a career high for strikeouts. He has not allowed a run in 16 straight innings; Oberste extended his hitting streak to 22 games, dating back to last season.

• Two of the nation's best lefthanders went toe-to-toe in a stellar pitching duel in the Metrodome. Indiana State's Sean Manaea (9 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) and Minnesota's Tom Windle (9 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) both went the distance, but the Sycamores pulled out a 2-1 victory. The game ended in dramatic fashion, as the Gophers had the bases loaded with two outs in the ninth, and Kurt Schlangen was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a wild pitch, in an extremely close play.

• Sticking in the Big West, Jeff McNeil (4-for-5, R, 2 RBI) hit a tie-breaking RBI single to spark Long Beach State's three-run eighth, leading the Dirtbags to a 4-1 win against Wichita State. I was on hand at Long Beach to see Shane Carle (7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K) stifle the Wichita bats, which mustered just four hits in the game. Carle touched 91 mph in the first but settled in at 87-88 mph for most of his outing, and coach Troy Buckley lauded him for mixing three pitches and winning without his best stuff. Shockers coach Gene Stephenson was pleased with the way starter Cale Elam (6 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) competed, but very displeased with the competitiveness of his team's at-bats.

• Fresno State lefthander Tyler Linehan (9 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K) made his first start of the year and bested San Diego State flame-thrower Michael Cederoth (7 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K), as the Bulldogs broke a scoreless tie in the sixth to win 1-0. Linehan carried a 9.82 ERA into the game pitching out of the bullpen, but coach Mike Batesole said Linehan worked hard with pitching coach Steve Rousey to make some mechanical adjustments, and his hard work paid off.

• Villanova's Pat Young racked up 18 strikeouts in an 8-2 win against 1-13 Chicago State. Young allowed three hits and no walks over seven shutout innings. No Division I pitcher has struck out more batters in a game over the past two seasons.